How Could You Not Know?
by Tyrunner
Summary: James Vega has a huge crush on Shepard, and everyone knows it...Except Shepard herself. A short Christmas story gift for LeilianaShepard as part of our group, "Mass Effect Fanfiction Writers SR2", and our annual Secret Santa writing contest! Enjoy!


**How Could You Not Know?**

A special Merry Christmas gift to Teresa Tasha Ryan (LeilianaShepard), from your Secret Santa!

The two Alliance soldiers stepped off the shuttle, onto the Armory deck of the Normandy, their armor showing the typical signs of a well-fought battle on a distant planet; soiled boots and other parts from when they rolled to avoid enemy fire, scuffs and scratches where bullets had hit, and other signs of the usual wear and tear on the pieces that had seen better days. The first soldier, wearing black armor with a red and white stripe down its left arm, removed their helmet first, a woman with short red hair, who's face, while showing some subtle signs of age, was still a very attractive female face, especially in the mind of her companion. The other soldier had dark midnight blue armor, with two simple white stripes running down one arm, his head turned to the woman as he removed his helmet, his eyes still glued to her.

"Whew. Nothing like a little skirmish with some rogue Batarians to start the day, eh, Lola?"

James Vega knew better. Commander Shepard's first name wasn't Lola, not even close. Her actual name was Janice, but ever since their playful spar in this very same armory a few months ago, he took to calling her Lola, since it was the same name of his best friend's sister when he had been growing up. He had told her how she reminded him of her, "Hot. Tough." And Shepard was that, at such a high level, that James couldn't resist calling her that. In fact, it was hard for him to resist anything regarding her.

He didn't just like Shepard, he nearly worshipped her. From the moment he first saw her, on a news vid back when she became the first ever human Spectre, she became James' instant crush. Everything about her attracted his attention. Her hair, her face, her body, so well formed and fit, that looked good in any kind of clothing, no matter how unattractive the outfit itself seemed, as well as her voice, and her attitude. She seemed to be a little of a tomboy at heart, but she had enough feminineness to her that she could dress up and be more of a lady at polite social gatherings. James adored her, admired her. No, those words didn't bring enough justice to his thoughts on her. He had an absolute crush on Shepard. He wanted her, wanted to be with her. And he didn't shy on flirting with her, either. As far as he knew, based on all that he'd heard on scuttlebutt, she was available too. Nobody seemed to have her attention, yet, from what he has noticed, and he gave every little subtle hint he could that he was willing to try something with her, beyond a professional relationship.

However, she didn't seem to share the same sentiment. Or, to be blunter, she seemed to be completely oblivious to it, never even noticing it, it appeared. How was that possible? By now, James was doing everything short of being straightforward and telling her everything short of saying that he liked her, hell, even loved her, but it looked like she didn't even have a clue that he did. James' entire reverie was interrupted by Shepard's reply.

"Well," she replied with a shrug, "As long as we got out of it in one piece, it's all good." She started removing her armor, taking it off piece by piece, exposing her under garments, which were made of the usual moisture-removing fabric, and was also, much to James' delight, completely hugging her figure, almost seeming to accentuate her luscious curves. Vega followed suit, taking off his armor, exposing his own ripped, muscular form. He never hesitated when he could to subtly show it off to her, as he exhaled and flexed slightly, "And we get a bit of a good workout, too." He gave a slight grin to Shepard, who just shrugged and carried her armor to her locker, replacing it in her hands with a towel as she wiped off some excess sweat off of her face.

"Different strokes for different folks, I suppose. Talk to you later, Vega." With that, she stepped onto the elevator, taking Shepard up to her cabin, while James stood near his locker, stupefied. He stared at the closed elevator door, and then shook his head with a hopeless sigh, grabbing items to take to the showers in the regular bathroom on the crew deck.

 **/**

Breakfast was palatable enough, but it had virtually no taste for James, watching Shepard eat from the other side of the table. Even though she could've eaten in her Captain's Cabin, she always ate with the rest of the crew in the main dining room on the crew deck. Between her bites and chewing, Shepard would look at the rest of the team sitting there around her, and James saw her make glances at him, which he would return with smiles. Not friendly smiles, either. They were flirtatious, smirks and looks that he tried to show to her were signs of attraction beyond just mutual or platonic friendships.

Even so, she continued to not notice, and when she put her dishes away to be washed, and returned to her cabin, Vega gave a loud exhale of frustration, one he was sure she could hear, but was once again ignored. He put his hands on his face, giving a firm, almost aggressive rub with his fingers, before running them through his Mohawk haircut, giving another exhale before slamming them on the table with an audible THUMP! When he opened his eyes again, he saw Garrus, Joker, and one of his good friends, Steve Cortez, were all looking back at him, and he could tell what they all wanted to say. Garrus spoke first.

"Women problems, Vega?" He meant to say it in humor, but Garrus knew that the timing had not been the greatest. James looked at each of the three men and groaned, shaking his head. He tried to think of a good response, but his mind was running rampart, with no set destination. Cortez replied to Garrus.

"You know that's the case, Vakarian. I've seen the way James looks at the Commander. He's absolutely smitten with her."

Joker gave a wince as he looked at Cortez, "Smitten? Really? You had to use _that_ word, Cortez? Hell, James has a freaking CRUSH on Shepard. More than that, even." He grinned with his sly smirk at Vega, "EDI's told me about the nights were you were lying in your bunk-"

"OKAY, OKAY!" Vega put his hands up in a 'full stop' pose, and then put them on his nose, the fingers resting on the bridge, his fingers in a triangle as he thought for a moment, then looked at the trio, his face and tone turning serious, "If we keep this on the down-low, could you guys help me try to tell Shepard I feel this way about her?"

The other three men looked at each other, as if they were having a private personal telepathic conversation before looking back at James and nodded, Garrus affirming, "Sure, lieutenant. We'll try to help lure Shepard to you."

Another cringe came from Vega as he shook his head, "Damn, Scars, when you put it that way, you make it sound so…unattractive." His next look was one of sincerity as he picked up his breakfast dishes, "Thanks a lot, _compadres_. This means a lot to me." They all nodded in reply and watched Vega as he washed his dishes, and walked off to the armory, to his own personal workout area. It was after he got out of sight that Cortez looked at Joker and Garrus, his face full of exasperation.

"Uh…can't we just convince him to just TELL her?"

 **/**

The different shades of blue flowed over the cockpit windows as the _Normandy_ glided through space at sub-light speed. Joker's hands were subtly gliding over the control panels, keeping the ship in perfect balance, with EDI assisting in the co-pilot's seat with her android body. Joker saw Shepard walking into the cockpit in the reflection of the cockpit windows and gave a slight grin as he heard the Commander stand right behind him, "So, Commander, Christmas is tomorrow. A nice time to spend with those you care about…and those who care about you…"

Shepard shrugged with indifference, "Well, aside from my mother, who's out on duty right now, there really isn't anyone for me."

"Really? Not even Lt. Vega?" Joker was trying to be discreet without being bluntly honest, "He does talk the world about you, you know…"

A smile and nod came from Shepard, "Yeah…Vega does respect a good soldier, doesn't he? I doubt that he sees me in any way beyond that, though…" She then turned on her heel and walked away, while Joker sat there with his mouth open in disbelief.

"Okay…is she _seriously_ that blind?"

 **/**

Garrus stepped into the bar, seeing Shepard having a drink, her usual choice of a rum and cola, and gave a nod, pouring himself a glass of turian brandy, before clearing his throat, "So, Shepard, I suppose having a drink every now and then is a good thing…it's even better when you have someone to have one with, am I right?"

Shepard looked in curiosity at the turian, then shrugged, "Well, I would, you know…if I had someone who was interested in me. But, alas, there is no one. Not even a hint or a simple flirt." She grinned, somewhat sadly to herself as she swallowed down the rest of her cocktail, putting the glass down on the counter and not even giving a parting of any kind to Garrus, who watched her leave, dumbfounded.

"Just when I thought I understood humans…"

 **/**

In his little workout room in the Shuttle Bay, Vega gave a hard punch and a shout of frustration after reading the messages from Joker and Garrus, both simply saying that Shepard had no reaction to their hints of his attraction to her. Cortez, working on the Kodiak shuttle finally knocked his head against the door and turned to James, "Vega, are you really that much of a _estúpido_? Just TELL her, face-to-face! You know, I always thought you had the _cojones_ to do this sort of thing, or at least, after having some _cervezas,_ you did!"

James angrily stomped towards Cortez, who stared him down. After they glared eye-to-eye with one another, Vega finally nodded with a grunt of newfound confidence, "You want me to tell her I'm in love with her, Esteban? Fine, I'll do it! And you will owe me some _cervezas_ and tequila later!"

 **/**

After looking all over the _Normandy_ for her, Vega finally found Shepard standing near the large window in the Observatory Room. Pausing at the door, James took a deep inhale and a low exhale before walking up to her. He could see her eyes in the reflection of the window looking at him, acknowledging his presence. As he finally stood next to her, he cleared his throat, trying to gain his confidence again that he lost as soon as he saw her eyes.

"Hey, Lola…So…I…well, see…ah, shit…What I'm trying to say, is…"

As soon as Shepard turned to him, their eyes meeting, his mind had turned to mush. All the confidence, the lines that he had been intending to say, suddenly became jumbled. He had wanted to be subtle, yet straightforward about his feelings for her, but he was suddenly lost when her green eyes met his. A female voice suddenly broke through the silence over the intercom, but it was not what James had expected or feared. It was much worse.

" _What Lt. Vega is trying to iterate, is that he is romantically attracted to you, Commander._ "

James' face immediately went flush as he angrily looked up at the speaker, "DAMN YOU, EDI! I never asked for your part in this!"

" _I was only voluntarily assisting, Lt. Vega._ "

"Well, don't!" His face was now fully red, with both anger and embarrassment as he looked back at Shepard. Her expression was not what he expected, either. Instead of anger, or confusion, or perplexing, it was one of happy surprise.

"Really, Vega? You…you like me…like that?" Her smile started to grow as she slowly stepped to him, her eyes staying on his as James struggled to comprehend what he knew was starting to transpire as he tried to come up with the right response.

"Uh…yeah? How…how could you not know that? Hell, I hinted it to you enough times. Joker tried to tell you, Garrus tried to-"

His words were suddenly interrupted by the feel of Shepard's lips pressing to his, causing James' body to suddenly feel like it was catching fire, yet becoming calm, but also excited, at the same time. His hands, by instinct, went to her slender, feminine hips, holding her as her arms went around his neck, keeping their lips pressed firmly together, before she finally broke the kiss, her eyes suddenly sparkling, like they had been brought to life by the kiss, her breathing was also much more audible, as James looked back at her, his mind racing even more as she spoke softly

"Oh, wow…that was…very lovely, Vega. You're right, how could I not see this? I…I think I really like you, too…"

Suddenly feeling a boost of ego, James grins, his hands going around to her back, keeping her close, "Oh, yeah?" Feeling more comfortable as well, he smiles more dearly to her, "So…are we going to be a couple, then?"

Shepard nodded, and backed out of their more personal embrace, taking his hand into hers, "Let's go up to my cabin, we can discuss it more there… _hombre_." Vega chuckled, following Shepard as she pulled on his hand, taking him with her to the main elevator.

"Yes, ma'am, _Lola_. And… _Feliz Navidad_." Shepard laughed and replied, "And a Merry Christmas to you, too…"

From above where they had stood, both Shepard and Vega had been unaware that something had been hanging above them. Through some open panels, the small bunch of plant and berries was pulled up by the string that it was hung from. As the mistletoe was brought to her, Tali, held it, mesmerized.

" _Keelah_ , this stuff actually works!"

* * *

 _Huzzah! I hope you enjoy this, Teresa! This was definitely something I would've never expected to write, and it was a lot of fun! Seeing what you liked, I thought it would've been a lot of fun to write something about how Vega is in love with Shepard, but Shepard was completely oblivious to it. I based this somewhat off parts of the play I'm currently in, "Almost, Maine", where this same situation arises, where someone is obviously in love with someone else, but that other person is completely unaware of it. Once again, hope you enjoy reading this, and a late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!_

 _WHO'S LIKE US?_

 _DAMN FEW!_


End file.
